Catholic group returns to Walworth County Fair

Peter's Net, a lay organization that represents Catholic tenets, reached an agreement with officials at the Walworth County Fair to return with a booth to the 2014 fair. The group accused fair officials of discrimination because they weren't allowed to renew its booth. Fair officials said they were concerned because of the items the group was handing out to minors in 2013. Facebook photo

ELKHORN – A Catholic organization that accused Walworth County Fair officials of discrimination because it wasn't allowed to renew its fair booth in 2014 will be back at this year's fair, according to a news release from the Thomas More Society.

Through its attorneys at the Thomas More Society, a Chicago-based public interest law firm, and Wisconsin attorney Jerome Buting, Peter's Net has reached an agreement with the Walworth County Agricultural Society on terms acceptable to both parties.

Peter's Net is a lay organization formed to promote Catholic teaching--including a stance against abortion-- and publicize area Catholic churches at regional county fairs. After exhibiting at the 2013 Walworth County Fair, Peter's Net was initially denied the right to return in 2014.

Fair officials said a fair patron complained in 2013 that her child was given a model of an 11-week-old fetus from the Peter's Net booth.Peter's Net officials have agreed not to hand out such items without parental permission.

Peter's Net's booth will be in the same location as last year.

“We are thrilled that Peter's Net will be able to return to the Walworth County Fair in 2014 and that this issue has been resolved in an amicable manner,” Buting said in the release. “We look forward to a positive experience at next year's Fair for both Peter's Net and the Fair's patrons.”

Paula Emmerth, Executive Director of Peter's Net, says the organization is already preparing for the busy summer fair season. She plans to bring Peter's Net to six fairs again this year—in Wisconsin, at the Walworth, Kenosha, and Racine County Fairs, and also in Illinois at the Lake, McHenry, and Boone County Fairs.